THE BUILDERS AND THE BUTCHERS-Dead Reckoning

Five-year veterans of the road, The Builders and the Butchers specialize in that increasingly popular genre of folk/rock/Americana. They’re one of the most authentic bands I’ve had the good fortune to hear this year.

Partly due to their musical styles and partly due to their hard edges, it’s difficult to know whether lead song “I Broke The Vein” is about miners or drug addicts. The band formed in Portland, but they’re all from Alaska originally.

If you dig Heartless Bastards, Okkerville River, or even The Grateful Dead, then I can’t imagine how you could possibly be disappointed by this release.